Record £161m EuroMillions lottery jackpot claimed

Jul 14, 2011, 12:57 pm (16 comments)

Euro Millions

Winner deciding whether or not to go public

The EuroMillions ticket-holder from Britain who won Europe's biggest-ever jackpot of £161 million (US$258.4 million) has claimed their prize, UK National Lottery operator Camelot has confirmed.

The individual is currently deciding whether to go public or remain anonymous.

Since Tuesday, Camelot has been urging people to check their tickets because the winner was losing about £9,000 a day in interest.

The lottery operator had said if the winner did not come forward within 180 days of the draw being made then the money and interest would go towards good causes.

Camelot said on a Coutts bank interest rate of 2.05% gross, the lucky person could be making an extra £9,079 a day.

However, other reports have said that figure could go up to £14,400 depending on where the person deposits the money.

It has not been disclosed where the ticket was bought or whether it was purchased online.

If the money were stacked in bundles of £50 notes, it would be almost 365m tall, almost four times the height of the Big Ben tower.

A Camelot spokesman told Sky News Online it was not unusual for a ticket to not be claimed within a few days of the draw being made because some people take a while to check their numbers.

He said that occasionally people make bogus claims, adding, "We have rigorous security procedures in place."

He continued, "The champagne is on ice for the winner."

The jackpot numbers were 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars were 9 and 10.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List 2011, a single winner would immediately become the 430th richest person in the country, ahead of Beatles legend Ringo Starr (£150m), but still just short of the Beckhams' league (£165m).

The exact amount to be claimed by the winner is £161,653,000 (US$261,188,571) while two other UK-based lottery players scooped £1.7m after matching five numbers and one Lucky Star.

Meanwhile, a man who won £26.1m in a family syndicate in January 2010, has urged the Euromillions winner to stay anonymous.

George Sturt, 77, who split the money four ways with his three children, said he had had hundreds of begging letters since he went public and regrets doing so now.

He told Sky News Online: "I've had so many begging letters. It was upsetting. One man even sent his bank account number for me to put money into.

"Camelot were wonderful and they got rid of a couple of bad ones," adding the firm had got in touch with those people and he has not heard from them since.

Sky News

Comments

fwlawrence's avatarfwlawrence

Remain anonymous. Especially in this economy. Most everyone will have his or her hands out. You could just about live off the interest, but I don't know anyone who pays 2% interest.

B$Rizzle's avatarB$Rizzle

Wow that is approx $17,000 + interest per day

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

"The lottery operator had said if the winner did not come forward within 180 days of the draw being made then the money and interest would go towards good causes."

I wonder what the "good causes" are?

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Richer than Ringo Starr?

Now that's lucky because Ringo has to be one of the luckiest people on Earth to wind up where he is based on his meager talents.

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I don't understand why anyone would want to go public if they didn't have to.

sully16's avatarsully16

Congrats to the winner, enjoy

Wouldn't that be a hoot if his name was Patel?

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jul 14, 2011

Congrats to the winner, enjoy

Wouldn't that be a hoot if his name was Patel?

LOL... Sully you almost made me pee my pants......ROFLROFL

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Congrats to the winner!

Winners in the USA should be allowed to remain Anonymous !!!!!!!!!!!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

US Flag

............ and I hope it is one person so that the Socialists go bonkers Crazy Cussing Face

ressuccess's avatarressuccess

Wow. That's a big jackpot. Why do they have to match 2 lucky stars to win the jackpot?

eddessaknight's avatareddessaknight

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jul 14, 2011

Congrats to the winner, enjoy

Wouldn't that be a hoot if his name was Patel?

While they are on a lucky roll, I Just wonder if the Royals buy tickets in Camelot???? Think of how many tktz they cpould buy-

WHY woukld they, you might ask???

One way to obtain imortal popularity with masses is by giveing away large amounts of money $$$ for free LOL

 

EddessaKnightSun Smiley

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by eddessaknight on Jul 14, 2011

While they are on a lucky roll, I Just wonder if the Royals buy tickets in Camelot???? Think of how many tktz they cpould buy-

WHY woukld they, you might ask???

One way to obtain imortal popularity with masses is by giveing away large amounts of money $$$ for free LOL

 

EddessaKnightSun Smiley

Oh man, I could imagine how people would feel if some schmuck like Charles won it.

That would be like a slap in the face to everybody in the whole country over there.

Or maybe they'd like it, who knows?

NoCompLotto!

Quote: Originally posted by ressuccess on Jul 14, 2011

Wow. That's a big jackpot. Why do they have to match 2 lucky stars to win the jackpot?

EuroMillions works like this:

You need to match 5 of 50 main numbers and 2 of 11 "Lucky Star" numbers in order to win.

It's easier than it sounds, and it actually has shorter odds than either Mega Millions or Powerball.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Jul 14, 2011

"The lottery operator had said if the winner did not come forward within 180 days of the draw being made then the money and interest would go towards good causes."

I wonder what the "good causes" are?

--------------------------------------------------------- 

Richer than Ringo Starr?

Now that's lucky because Ringo has to be one of the luckiest people on Earth to wind up where he is based on his meager talents.

----------------------------------------------------------

I don't understand why anyone would want to go public if they didn't have to.

good causes ? i'll bet a weeks lottery budget,( $15) one of the causes are supporting the royals.

CashWinner$

CONGRATULATIONS Party

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by NoCompLotto! on Jul 14, 2011

EuroMillions works like this:

You need to match 5 of 50 main numbers and 2 of 11 "Lucky Star" numbers in order to win.

It's easier than it sounds, and it actually has shorter odds than either Mega Millions or Powerball.

Shorter taxes, too. Evil Smile

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Jul 14, 2011

Shorter taxes, too. Evil Smile

And thats the best. The jackpot is actually what you bring home, not a fraction of the jackpot.

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